Psychological trauma of the civil war in Sri Lanka

In Vavuniya, a town close to the front lines, thousands of displaced people have been settled in government-run camps known as welfare centres. These centres were established 10 years ago as temporary facilities for people displaced by conflict and wishing to resettle elsewhere in Sri Lanka. Conditi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Lancet (British edition) 2002-04, Vol.359 (9316), p.1517-1518
Main Authors: de Jong, Kaz, Mulhern, Maureen, Ford, Nathan, Simpson, Isabel, Swan, Alison, van der Kam, Saskia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Camps
Civil war
Communities
Displaced persons
Domestic violence
Effects
Families & family life
Health Manpower - statistics & numerical data
Health Services - standards
Humans
Living conditions
Local government
Medical personnel
Medical research
Medical sciences
Medical supplies
Mental health
Physicians
Poisons
Population
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Rape
Relocation
Seeds
Sri Lanka
Stress, Psychological
Suicide
Suicides & suicide attempts
Trauma
Tropical medicine
Truces & cease fires
Warfare
Water shortages
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Summary:In Vavuniya, a town close to the front lines, thousands of displaced people have been settled in government-run camps known as welfare centres. These centres were established 10 years ago as temporary facilities for people displaced by conflict and wishing to resettle elsewhere in Sri Lanka. Conditions in the camps are poor. Families (average six members) occupy an area of 3 m2. Hygiene is very limited, and water shortages and nonfunctional pit latrines are common. As a security measure, these 23 000 Tamils were virtually confined to the centres by a strictly-enforced pass system. The desperate living conditions, and the general level of trauma within the population, is reflected by the alarming rate of suicide in the camps, which is almost three times higher (1035 per 10 000) than in the community (375 per 10 000). Indeed, the prevalence of suicide in Sri Lanka is one of the highest in the world.' Alcohol dependency is high among the camp population, and frequent episodes of domestic violence, child abuse, and violence between neighbours are evidence of a breakdown in the social fabric.
ISSN:0140-6736
1474-547X
DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)08420-9